The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday invited about 1,300 leaders from all sectors, including President Lee Myung-bak, for its New Year’s greetings in southern Seoul.The event, which was organized by the country’s largest business lobby and participated by leaders from the business, government, societal and diplomatic circles, was the first meeting between the president and business heads in 2012.“I hope this year could be one which the country establishes great growth in all se

Foreign investors shifted to net sellers of listed South Korean equities last year as heightened global market uncertainties prompted a flight for safer assets, the financial watchdog said Thursday.Overseas investors sold a net 9.6 trillion won ($8.4 billion) of local stocks in 2011, compared with a net purchase of 22.9 trillion won the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.The sharp fall came as foreign investors offloaded 9.3 trillion won worth of shares between August

Central bank under fire for inflation growth moves to set up new PR organKorea’s central bank has named reining in consumer prices as its top priority this year, but its reorganization plan sends a mixed message about whether it is indeed determined to fight inflation.“Price stability has emerged more than ever before as an important matter of national concern,” said BOK Gov. Kim Choong-soo in his New Year’s message last week. The first noticeable step, however, is to set up a new division offic

Korean stocks edged down 0.13 percent on Thursday as investors cut their holdings of techs and banks ahead of significant political events in Europe and economic data reports in the U.S. next week, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. currency.The benchmark KOSPI inched down 2.48 points to 1,863.74. Trading volume was heavy at 528.5 million shares worth 4.8 trillion won ($4.2 billion) with gainers leading losers 463 to 369.“Investors were reluctant to buy stocks as they are wa

Customer satisfaction with public agencies in Korea edged up last year, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Thursday.According to the survey on 167 public organizations including state-run enterprises and state-affiliated agencies, the satisfaction level improved in the fields of customer-oriented services and customized consulting, the ministry said.Public enterprises scored 93.7 out of 100 last year, up from 92.9 the previous year. Semi-public agencies and other agencies scored 89.6 and

Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea's tech giant, is expected to announce its preliminary fourth-quarter sales and operating profit data on Friday, market sources said Thursday.According to the sources, Samsung Electronics will likely post sales ranging from 43 trillion won ($37.3 billion) to 47 trillion won for the October-December period. Its operating profit is expected to reach about 5 trillion won. During the first three quarters of last year, Samsung Electronics posted 117.7 trillion won

Oriental Brewery, Korea’s No. 2 beer maker, topped its bigger rival Hite-Jinro for the first time in 15 years as its market share shot up last year, thanks to the growing popularity of its new products. Industry data showed on Wednesday that OB’s share in the local beer market by shipment volume topped 50.2 percent in the first 10 months of 2011, surpassing Hite-Jinro by a hair’s breadth ― 0.4 percent. Their race had been nip-and-tuck throughout last year as OB accelerated to taper the once doub

South Korean stocks edged down 0.49 percent Wednesday as investors took profits following a bullish run on the previous session, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark KOSPI lost 9.19 points to 1,866.22. Trading volume was heavy at 488 million shares worth 4.7 trillion won ($4.1 billion), with losers leading gainers 430 to 395.“Some investors offloaded their shares to take profits as the KOSPI jumped nearly 50 points on the previous day on the back of better

Enlisted soldiers will be served with Korean beef at barracks as part of the government’s efforts to keep the price of locally bred cows from further decreasing.The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Wednesday that it has started to secure a budget to replace all imported beef provided in the military with Korean meat. The ministry was also considering offering Korean beef as substitute for more than half the pork that the nation’s 650,000 soldiers consume 60 grams every

The National Tax Service said Wednesday it would exempt smaller foreign firms operating in Korea from tax audits as part of efforts to encourage foreign direct investment. Foreign companies whose yearly income is less than 10 billion won ($8.7 million) would qualify for the tax audit exemption. “As with Korean conglomerates, big foreign companies in Korea are subject to regular audits, but smaller foreign units would be excluded from the required audits,” said an official at the NTS.The move cam

Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest chipmaker, is seeking to build a new plant in China to produce high-tech NAND flash memory chips, the Seoul government said Wednesday.The move that could lead to technology leaks was filed by Samsung on Dec. 6 and was approved Wednesday by a government committee on industrial technology security, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.“The Ministry of Knowledge Economy made the decision after holding two industrial technology security

Prices of dynamic random access memory chips paused their falling trend in December on the back of seasonal demand, snapping a long losing streak, industry data showed Wednesday.According to DRAMeXchange Technology Inc., the average price of the benchmark DDR3 2 gigabit, 256Mx8 1333 megahertz device was set at US$0.88 in the second half of last month, unchanged from two weeks ago.The Taiwan-based company, Asia’s largest operator of a semiconductor spot market, compiles chip prices twice a month.